MaiHiME: A Letter for You
by ArcaJeth
Summary: A series of letters and journals which tells of the HiMEs' lives after the Festival WARNING! Romantic stuff inside.
1. Part 1: Home is Where

Disclaimer: Mai-HiME/My HiME, and all associated characters are the property of Sunrise. This is a work of parody and no profit has been made from it. 

Mai-HiME: A Letter for You

Part 1: Home is Where...

Dearest Natsuki,

I pray that this letter finds you well. The leaves are changing here. The garden is bathed in amber, ocher and gold. The morning view from the bedroom is magnificent. Though the bed feels so empty without you here.

Forgive me; I've been a bit lonely of late. Though I really have no reason to be. Shizuka and Natsuko keep me so busy I hardly have time to mope. The little imps are probably into something else as I write.

But I am blessed to have them. They remind me so much of you, always testing their boundaries. Just yesterday I turned my back for two minutes (I swear) for a phone call and I found them in the kitchen of all places, elbow-deep in a jar of mayonnaise. I can only hope their eating habits aren't the only thing they inherited from you.

I shouldn't be this way. We agreed that your work tracing the First District and the Searrs Foundation was improtant, but I can't help longing for you. I'd resigned myself to the fact that I'd be married one day. But to marry the one I loved, and to bear and raise two beautiful daughters with that same love was beyond my wildest dreams.

Please allow me this one moment of selfishness. Find your answers and come home soon.

With love always,

Shizuru

* * *

**_Don't worry, it's turning into something. I promise._**

**_:HUGS:_**

**_Arca_**


	2. Part 2: the Heart is

Disclaimer: Mai-HiME/My HiME, and all associated characters are the property of Sunrise. This is a work of parody and no profit has been made from it. 

Mai-HiME: A Letter for You

Part 2: ...the Heart is.

Shizuru,

Has it really been two weeks? It felt like years, decades, centuries. Forgive me for being away so long. My obsessive search for the "truth" sometimes clouds my better judgement.

No. That's not fair. The truth was that I was afraid. After years of fighting lies and betrayals I was afraid. I was afraid two people like us could never find so much happiness. Even after the lawsuits from the Fujino Conglomerate had been settled; even after our marriage and dodging the tabloids, and even after hiding the origins of that miraculous pregnancy, I feared.

With all of the evidence to the contrary I thought the gods were against our union. Today I lay aside that fear. My place is with you and our children. To be loved by you is the greatest heaven I could ever hope for.

My investigations are at an end. Whatever answers I needed are right there in your arms and your smile. I want to spend time reacquainting myself with your body. I want to smell the scent of your hair and put my ear to your breast and listen to your wonderful heart. I want to kiss those lovely lips as they call my name again and again.

We'll of course have to find a sitter. Please ask Nao if she's free.  
I'll be back by week's end.

Your love is my only home,

Natsuki

* * *

**_In a fit of inspiration, I started this project the other day. Feel free to let me know what you think. (I'll try not to make them too sappy)_**


	3. Part 3: An Accounting of Days

Disclaimer: Mai-HiME/My HiME, and all associated characters are the property of Sunrise. This is a work of parody and no profit has been made from it. 

Mai-HiME: A Letter for You

Part 3: An Account of Days

FROM THE PERSONAL JOURNAL OF KIKUKAWA YUKINO:

9/13-- Nakajima-san came to see me today. He said my new system designs were approved. At this rate I'll get a promotion with a raise soon. I should be thrilled.

9/14-- I finally got a break tonight. These all-nighters are taking their toll. At work I'm edgy and at night I'm restless. I should eat a better diet than coffee in the mornings and pre-packaged meals at night. But what would be the point of that?

9/15-- One of my co-workers, Saori-san invited me to a goukon. She said they needed to raise the intelligence quotient of their group. The girls are all friendly and easygoing, however I just don't feel comfortable around them. I don't feel like a part of their world.

9/16-- I made my apologies to Saori-san and the others and declined their offer. They seemed to believe my excuses about finishing this project early. I think I'm just better off alone right now.

And Mikoto-chan called.

9/17-- I was planning to take it easy on my day off. Maybe go to the gym for a workout. But Mikoto-chan showed up and we ended up goofing off all day. I can't believe how much I've missed her. She's turned into such a beautiful young lady. We saw a movie, did some shopping and went to my favorite ice cream shop. It's been so long since I did something that was just for fun.

9/18-- Seeing Mikoto-chan like that really took me back. I remember our time at Fuuka the best. Even with all of that craziness, I count it as the happiest time of my life. With everyone on the student council, Mai-san, Kuga-san and the other HiMEs, and...Haruka-chan.

9/24-- That last entry suddenly made me think of things I didn't want to remember for some time. Haruka-chan. I hope you're doing well. I know my feelings could never be returned so I promised myself not to contact her anymore. I want to remember our friendship as it was. Why am I writing this as if anyone will see this? Mikoto-chan's calling.

9/25-- Mikoto told me why she's been spending so much time in this city. She plans to transfer to the university here to finish her veterinary science degree. When I asked her why she'd want to move so far away from Mai-san, she just shook her head and said it was just time.

10/02-- Saori-san asked me if something good happened to me lately. When I asked why, she said I seemed so much more at ease lately.  
I wonder...

10/10-- Anniversary. The day Haruka-chan asked me to join the Excecutive committee. I remember took me by the hand and led me to the school roof. She looked into my eyes and told me Fuuka Gakuen needed me. And furthermore SHE needed me. Haruka-chan, beautiful, from a wealthy and prestegious family needed ME.

10/12-- I spent another day with Mikoto-chan. It was wrong of me to try and revive old times with her. I'd like to place my hopes in something new. Also, I seriously considered asking her to spend the night. But that felt like a betrayal. Why?

* * *

**_There will be more from Yukino later. (I promise) The story is firming up now. I can almost see where it's going._**


	4. Part 4: An Anticipated Proposal

Disclaimer: Mai-HiME/My HiME, and all associated characters are the property of Sunrise. This is a work of parody and no profit has been made from it. 

Mai-HiME: A Letter for You

Part 4: The Anticipated Proposal

Dear Takumi,

Your prediction was off by a week. Yuuichi asked me to marry him tonight after dinner. He had this wierd look on his face, you know the one he gets when he tries to look serious. When he tried to get on one knee, Yuuichi tipped his chair over and made a waiter drop the desserts all over them both. And that's how he proposed, covered in bavarian cream and chocolate mousse!

But I wouldn't trade that memory for anything. At least it'll be an entertaining story to tell our children. Children! I can't believe I'm thinking that far ahead! Though it's not such a bad thought, having Yuuichi's children.

By the way, Chie said she saw Mikoto the other day. She was out with Kikukawa Yukino from school. (from the student council, remember?) I honestly didn't know what to think or feel about that. When she moved out I thought that there was nothingleft between us. At least not what she'd been hoping for.

Do you think I should call her? I really want her there for the ceremony but with our history it might be awkward. I told you some of what happened the last month she was here. But I never told you how bad it really was.

Mikoto was just so hurt all the time. I wanted to spare her all that. I honestly wished I could have been everything to her. But a lover? That's just not who I want to be. Maybe I could have handled it better, but Mikoto's at fault too. Demanding that I make a choice between her and Yuuichi was just unfair.

When I refused to make that choice she started packing. Maybe I'd come to expect Mikoto to be there for me, to always be there, waiting. I never thought she'd choose to leave.

I'm afraid Takumi. It was a simple choice. I'm straight and I love Yuuichi and I want to make a life with him. But Mikoto has a place in my heart that no one else can take. I can't explain it well and I don't want to understand it.

I don't know why I've written so much. It's not like I'm going to send this letter now, but I just couldn't stop writing. This was supposed to be me announcing my engagement but all I've done is write about Mikoto.

The fact is I haven't accepted the proposal yet. I don't know what to do next.

Takumi, what should I do?

Your loving sister,

Mai

* * *

_**Next up is**_ **_Haruka. I've always wanted to get inside her head. _**


	5. Part 5: The Price of Perfection

Disclaimer: Mai-HiME/My HiME, and all associated characters are the property of Sunrise. This is a work of parody and no profit has been made from it. 

Mai-HiME: A Letter for You

Part 5: The Price of Perfection

From the Personal Journal of SUZUSHIRO HARUKA

Another day, another omiai. This one will probably fail too. Perhaps mother is right; I'm just too headstrong for a woman. Men see my take-charge attitude and run the other way. I just can't be any other way. If I am to lead the Suzushiro Group one day, I need to be as strong as possible to defeat our many rivals.

I hate this stupid kimono! The color's wrong and it's stifling in this heat. (I must remember to send grandmother a thank-you note).

But what's wrong with me lately? This wasn't a part of the plan. By this time I was supposed to be happily married with child on the way. Another heir to the Suzushiro fortune.

As many times as I write it, that life just doesn't seem like mine.  
There should be more to this.

I watched mother and swore to myself I'd never have her life. Married for convenience to a man she barely knew. She's always said that she learned to love father. I can tell they love each other in a way. But there's no passion, no romance. They're just comfortable with each other.

Listen to me going on about passion and romance like some giddy schoolgirl!

That girl has long, since grown up. Days of sending love letters to a certain classmate only to have them returned un-opened are over.  
Maybe...if she'd have just told me to my face that my feelings were unwanted, that she didn't feel the same about me, I could have let it go. But this was worse than a refusal. I was ignored.

I can endure many things but Suzushiro Haruka, future leader of the Suzushiro Group WILL NOT BE IGNORED!

I realize now that it was a silly thing to base my high school career on. But I'd made up my mind. It took me three years of hating Fujino to finally realize what my real problem was. I idolized her without knowing her heart. I loved an image rather than a real person.

I thought she pitied me, a common girl born into a prestigious family. My life was filled with tutors and training, etiquette, posture, literature, flower arrangement, dance. All things that seemed to come naturally to Fujino.

I just knew she looked down on me without even the decency to gloat in her superiority. No, not Fujino-the-Perfect!

It all came to a head when I saw her together with that Kuga Natsuki.  
How dare she throw away everything for this love? How dare the star of Fuuka Gakuen, so easily slip out of her appointed role. While awkward, pushy Suzushiro Haruka had to struggle every day to keep up appearances.

Every day I kept up the appearance of a proper young lady. Slavishly adhering to school traditions, ignoring my wants, my dreams.

Ignoring my real feelings, ignoring those surreptitious glances my kouhai gives me. Pretending I don't hear the tenderness in her voice when she says my name. Disregarding the hurt look she gets when I send her on another assignment when I could have gone with her. How she always knows to rub my shoulders when I'm tense or how I like my tea, and a million other things. Ignoring the way my heart skips a beat every time she enters a room.

It was just too cruel that Fujino Shizuru, who had so much going for her could come clean with her feelings while I had to play the part of the good girl.

Yukino, I never let on that I knew. I wasn't brave enough to tell you the truth. Now Fujino Shizuru is happy with her abnormal little family. And I'm destined to marry a man I don't even love.

I can't believe I lost to her again.


	6. Part 6: The Cruelest Thing

Disclaimer: Mai-HiME/My HiME, and all associated characters are the property of Sunrise. This is a work of parody and no profit has been made from it.

Mai-HiME: A Letter for You

Part 6: The Cruelest Thing

Ani-ue, my heart is confused.

I tried to take your advice about Mai. When you told me that her happiness should be my happiness, I thought I'd found a way out. I thought I could find a way to live without her love. But I was wrong.

You probably know by now that I moved out. I couldn't take living with her anymore, knowing that her smile wasn't mine alone. Knowing that her kiss wasn't mine alone. Mai is the kindest person I know, but because she's so kind makes her the cruelest person. She couldn't tell me to go away. She couldn't tell me that she didn't love me that way.

Yuuichi was the other reason I left. He's my friend and always kind and funny. He makes Mai smile. If Mai chose someone like him it wouldn't be so bad. I could be happy for them. That lie kept me sane for a while. But deep in my heart I started to hate him. I wanted to scream at him; "Don't make her smile! Don't make her laugh! Don't make her look at you that way! Don't make her give you her heart."

I left because I hated him. Mai was the one who taught me what real love felt like. So, I could never hate something she loves.

Now someone new is in my life. She's fun to be around and pretty. She makes me feel like it's all right to start living again. I want to give myself to Yukino, to let her fill the emptiness if only for a moment. But, why is a part of me holding back? Why can't I just let Mai go and start my life over?

Ani-ue, what should I do?

* * *

**Author's Note: Ani-ue is is the title Mikoto calls her older brother. It's quite old-fashioned which gives us a clue as to her upbringing. **

**Furthermore, sorry for the lack of updates but I wrote myself into a corner and almost included a part the story didn't need. I'll be updating regularly form now on.**

**Arca**


	7. Part 7: Hold On

Disclaimer: Mai-HiME/My HiME, and all associated characters are the property of Sunrise. This is a work of parody and no profit has been made from it. 

**Mai-HiME: A Letter for You**

**Part 7: Hold On**

FROM THE PERSONAL JOURNAL OF KIKUKAWA YUKINO:

**10/15:** Mikoto took me to a tiny restaurant she found last night. It was a family-owned place that was little more than kitchen with a couple of tables squeezed in.

In the dim candle light, I finally figured out what was so different about Mikoto. This cheerful, energetic girl I once knew had been muted. The light in her golden eyes had been dimmed by the cares of the adult world. In other words, she'd found that one truth all adults must face:

Sometimes, no matter how hard you work, or how fervently you pray, you can't have what you really want.

**10/22:** I haven't met with Mikoto in a week. Either our schedules didn't match up, her with a term paper due and me with a deadline.

No. That's a lie. We were afraid. That night at the restaurant, I touched a deep and still bleeding wound inside Mikoto, as she did in me. Two people, surrounded by humanity yet utterly alone find one another. The odds are almost astronomical.

But what was truly frightening, what absolutely terrified us is that our bond is strengthening. Mikoto makes me feel like it's okay to love again. I think I do the same for her. But is that really such a good thing? What of those we both loved and lost? Are we allowed to find happiness without them?

**10/25:** I saw Mikoto again last night. We shared dinner and lounged while at my flat. We talked of simple things, work and school. We spoke of anything but what we were feeling. We wanted to draw closer but were afraid to. What would happen to our friendship? What about our unrequited loves?

I finally told Mikoto my fears, and she admitted that she'd been thinking the same.

"It's like we were on a ship and were thrown overboard," she told me. "We're miles from land and there's a huge storm coming. There's only one thing we can do to survive. Hold on."

Last night, I took Mikoto to my bed.

* * *

**There are only a few more to go. I was really depressed this morning and this is what I came up with. I don't know how things will end up since the story largely depends on my mood. Thanks for all the comments. **

**Arca**


	8. Part 8: Let Go

Disclaimer: Mai-HiME/My HiME, and all associated characters are the property of Sunrise. This is a work of parody and no profit has been made from it. 

**Mai-HiME: A Letter for You**

**Part 8: Let Go**

Dear Takumi,

So much has happened since I last wrote you. And I'm not referring to that farce of a letter I sent at first (thanks by the way, for making me send you the unedited original). I found out what has been plaguing me for so long. It's love.

That such a benign emotion could cause so much pain is too cruel. But sometimes through the worst cruelty the truth comes shining through.

I'm sitting in my room now, days away from the wedding. My bridal gown is ready along with some pink taffeta monstrosities for my bridesmaids (forgive me Natsuki!). Now that I see the truth of my life, things have gone easier.

The truth is I fell in love Yuuichi. I fell in love with the way he makes me feel and his vow to protect me and everything I love.

The truth is I love Mikoto, that odd little girl who bulldozed her way into my heart and my life. I love that she always needed me to take care of her. I love that it was actually the other way around; I needed her to protect my heart from the terrible things in this world. She managed to make my life brighter just through her smile, her voice, her touch.

I fell in love with Yuuichi for letting me be myself, but never letting me forget to take care of myself. I fell in love with the way he gazes at me when he thinks I don't notice. I fell in love the fact that he truly agonizes over being worthy of me. (he's just being silly but I indulge him)

Takumi, the truth is I love Mikoto, but I fell in love with Yuuichi. I've been tearing my hair out these past weeks trying to reconcile these two facts. Yet my day of epiphany came on the day of my final fitting for my gown.

Natsuki and Shizuru accompanied me to the seamstress last week. It was there, as I tried on the gown I'd waited my whole life wear that I saw them.

Outside the display window, I saw Mikoto and my former classmate, Kikukawa Yukino. I'd heard the talk about them. But I wasn't prepared for the reality.

Don't look at someone else like that. Don't take a hand that isn't mine. Don't whisper into her ear to make her smile.

Don't fall in love with someone else.  
Torn between running outside (wedding dress and all), grabbing Mikoto and carrying her far, far away, or collapsing into a puddle of my own despair.

It was then that I had an epiphany. I was here, in my wedding dress watching Mikoto with another woman. Yet, I was here because I fell in love with Yuuichi. By selfishly trying to hold onto them both, all I succeeded in doing was hurting them and myself.

The person you're in love with and the person you love aren't always the same. Only a blessed few of us can claim to have both. The rest of us make do somehow. We do so by grabbing the love around us and holding fast.

That day I let go of Mikoto, allowing her to love someone else. And I held fast to Yuuichi, a love I can attain.

It's by no means a perfect world, but it's one where we can find happiness if we know where to look.

Make sure you and Akira-kun get back in time for the ceremony.

Always your loving sister,

Mai

* * *


	9. Part 9: Another Time, Perhaps

Disclaimer: Mai-HiME/My HiME, and all associated characters are the property of Sunrise. This is a work of parody and no profit has been made from it. 

**Mai-HiME: A Letter for You**

**Part 9: Another Time, Perhaps**

My dear Mikoto,

I can't thank you enough for agreeing to my impossible request. I know I've said it before, but you were the only one I could ask. Only you could understand the need for this sacrifice. Only you have a gaze like mine, one that penetrates time.

Sometimes our feelings can cause us pain, a pain that reaches across time and space. Yet our feelings can give us happiness, a joy that transcends this world into the next.

When I heard about your recent troubles, I couldn't help but believe it was my fault. If I hadn't brought you together, you wouldn't have to experience this painful parting. However if you had never met Tokiha-san, had never known her love and support, you would have never gained the strength to do what I've asked of you.

Fate. I spent centuries trying to subvert fate. Yet as my ultimate goal is achieved I can't help but wonder if I was playing into Fate's hands all along. After all, if you and Tokiha-san were destined to meet and destined to part, perhaps you are destined to meet again.

But this is no time for speculation. I'm glad you've found love with Kikukawa-san. You've finally found a measure of happiness in this lifetime, my friend. Hold on to it. I'm afraid you won't find much comfort in the times to come.

There's only chance, and my powers of precognition are greatly diminished as I leave this place, a chance that the wheel of Fate will turn and you'll meet her again. I'll not tamper with destiny, but when you find her hold fast and never let go. This is my final kindness.

Thank you again,

Kazahana Mashiro

* * *

**Author's Note: I think I'll leave it at that. I really enjoyed writing this style. Thanks for all the comments and criticisms. And yes, Mashiro's letter does tie-in to a future story. Have fun guessing what it's about. **

**:HUGS:**

**Arca**


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